


Take My Fear, Hold My Heart

by Sheepgirl3



Series: Secrets, Broken and Fragile [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alpha Athena Grant, Alpha Bobby Nash, Alpha Evan "Buck" Buckley, Alpha Howie "Chimney" Han, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Awesome Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Beta Henrietta Wilson, Canon Compliant, Christopher Diaz Has Two Dads, Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Christopher Diaz is a Sweetheart, Eddie Diaz Needs a Hug (9-1-1 TV), Eddie Diaz Speaks Spanish, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mentioned Shannon Diaz, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Multi, Omega Eddie Diaz (9-1-1), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Pre-Relationship, Pre-Relationship Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Protective Bobby Nash, Protective Evan "Buck" Buckley, Season/Series 02, Season/Series 03, Secrets, Slow Burn Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Worried Evan "Buck" Buckley, but kinda, she's a bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:09:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29542860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheepgirl3/pseuds/Sheepgirl3
Summary: This is the prequel to See Me, Love Me.What happens before Eddie's designation is revealed? What would the series be like before the events of See Me, Love Me. How did a hurt and scared Eddie learn to trust his team and fall in love with Buck?
Relationships: Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Henrietta "Hen" Wilson/Karen Wilson, Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Secrets, Broken and Fragile [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2170401
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	Take My Fear, Hold My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise! Here's a prequel.
> 
> You don't have to read See Me, Love Me first, but I recommend it. Buddie becomes established in that one. Mind the tags, this is pre-relationship. This story will cover every episode (minus every begins except Eddie's) in seasons 2 and 3. How was their love story built? Find that here.
> 
> Of course, I own absolutely nothing. This story is full of episode material, "missing scenes", and omega! Eddie's POV.

Eddie was jolted out of a light doze with his alarm going off. Unable to stop thinking about his first day of work and unable to conquer the fear that everything would go wrong, he hadn’t been able to truly drift off to sleep. He hit his alarm and sat up, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. He did a check of his body and decided that he’d run on much less sleep just fine plenty of times before. Before he could be tempted to try and catch another hour, he pulled himself out of bed and stumbled down the hall towards the bathroom.

Once he’d relieved himself, Eddie splashed a handful of water over his face and stared at himself in the mirror. He just had to get through the day. Once he met his crew and had his first day on the job, he’d know where he stood. With that in mind, he snatched up the bottle of suppressants off of the highest shelf and swallowed down two tablets.

He could only hope that the suppressants would work around people who were trained to notice everything. Sure, his scent was almost nonexistent, as Abuela kept pointing out. His muscle structure belonged to an Alpha, or at least a diligent Beta. He’d learned how to act like anything other than an Omega, so unless someone had psychic powers it was highly improbable.

But not completely impossible. Designations weren’t passed down in the paperwork from headquarters, but a captain could request them if he felt the need. He was well aware of the attitude towards Omegas in Alpha-dominated jobs, hell he’d survived three tours in Afghanistan. He wasn’t brave enough to face his designation plus the attitudes of his coworkers.

Eddie switched off the bathroom light and walked towards Christopher’s room, feeling the twist in his stomach leave just like it did every time he saw his son. Wishing he could stay in the doorway and watch his light in the world sleep peacefully, Eddie rapped gently on the doorframe. It would benefit no one if either of them were late to their first day.

“Rise and shine,  _ mijo _ .”

Once Chris had pulled himself up, he flashed a smile bright enough for Eddie to remember why he’d done all of this to begin with. “First day.” His seven year old mumbled, still sporting his grin.

“First day.” Eddie affirmed. “ _ Vamos, cariño. No podemos llegar tarde _ .”

“ _ ¡Vamos! _ ” Chris cheered. Eddie made sure he got out of bed and was starting on his stretches before walking into the kitchen, ears listening intently for any sign that something went wrong. No matter how well his son managed, he couldn’t help worrying all the same.

The clicking of Chris’s crutches was enough to make the Omega relax and he bustled around the kitchen, glancing at the time to make cooking plans. His shift was at 8 am and he wanted to be there a little early. Had to, in fact, to meet with the captain. He still had time to make something special, though. Something to give them both a good start to the day.

“How do you feel about chocolate chip pancakes, Chris?” He asked, turning to face his son. He couldn’t resist smiling as he watched him settle onto one of the kitchen chairs.

“Yay! Pancakes!” Chris cheered, raising his hands in celebration. Eddie chuckled and walked over to the fridge, pulling out an apple juice box and placing it in front of his son. He then got to work cooking, pulling out his phone and playing music that he and Chris both sang along to. He couldn’t cook much, but he had mastered most breakfast foods and it was important to their routine to have as many meals together as possible.

As they ate, Eddie listened to Chris chatter away about his upcoming first day of school. They’d already been in LA for a while, due to his academy training, but they’d decided to change schools when Eddie found out that teachers weren’t accommodating Chris’s needs. This new school had slightly better reviews, but Eddie had a hunch that it was still short term. Chris needed a place where people understood him.

Too soon, they were putting their plates in the sink and showering, moving down the list of things that they needed to do before leaving the house. All too soon, they were getting into Eddie’s truck and driving to Chris’s school. It was hard leaving Chris at his first classroom, far more than Eddie had expected, but his mind was slightly eased by the fact that his kid almost immediately struck up a friendship with another boy in the class, something about the kid’s Star Wars shirt, Eddie thought.

He left Chris with a hug and a “ _ Te veré esta noche, te amo _ .” And if he left the school with an almost reluctant smile and missing his kid already, then no one else needed to know. Truly, the last week of being in transition and staying at home with Chris would be missed. 

He’d managed to push most of the nerves back behind internal doors by the time he reached the station and strode in with only partially false confidence. He was a good probationary firefighter, he knew that. Top of his class. All he needed to do was get the introductions out of the way and then he’d know what came next.

A man who looked to be in his young fifties was standing near the closest fire truck when Eddie came in and the air of relaxed authority made him take a guess that this was the captain. Sure enough, as soon as he came closer, the man turned and spotted him, moving forward with an outstretched hand and a genuine smile. “You must be Edmundo Diaz. I’m Captain Nash.”

“Eddie, please.” Eddie shook the Alpha’s hand and felt reassured by the grip. If there was one thing he’d mastered by way of tells, a person’s handshake was one of them. 

“Eddie then. Come on, I’ll show you around. The crew’s only just starting to come in so you’ll have to wait a little for introductions, but the locker room will be pretty free so you’ll be able to change there.”

Eddie learned quickly that Nash’s first name was Bobby and that everyone in the station seemed to like and respect him, judging by the greetings exchanged. He’d met a couple of the crew so far, but he understood that they didn’t work on the same truck that he would be.

“The truck crew that you’ll be working with is drifting in, I think I just saw Buck and Hen pulling up so Chim must be around here somewhere. Why don’t you get changed and I’ll introduce you?”

Eddie thanked the captain for the tour and found an empty locker, making quick work of stripping out of his clothes. He didn’t feel comfortable being only in his boxers for very long, not in a place where he knew no one, so he quickly pulled on his uniform pants and his shirt followed not long after. He caught a glimpse of himself in the glass walls and smiled softly, the bundle of nerves leaving for now. This felt right, to be in uniform where he didn’t have to hold a gun. Besides, even his self-deprecating self recognized that the uniform hugged him in all the right places.

His head swiveled up at the sound of people coming into the locker room and he smoothed back his hair bashfully. Captain Nash--Bobby, as he insisted Eddie call him--introduced him to a kind but fierce looking Beta named Hen and to a man that he guessed was an Alpha nicknamed Chimney. Everyone was wearing blockers, but Eddie’s nose could pick up on all of their scents and if he had one they likely would’ve picked up on his too. If they’d noticed the absence of one, no one gave any indication.

“Right, Hen and Chim are our paramedics. You’ll be working more closely with-hold on, he didn’t come in did he? Hey Buck, get in here.”

Eddie’s nose caught the scent before he could turn to completely look and his head swam for a second. He couldn’t pick out the smells that made up the scent drifting towards him, but it was musky, earthy, and  _ Alpha _ .

_ Oh Dios, ¿en qué se había metido? _

His eyes caught up with his nose and he almost wished they hadn’t. The Alpha was a couple of inches taller than his own 6’0 and broader. While Eddie was more stocky and compact, the Alpha was long and muscle packed on every inch. He was blond with some reddish hints to his hair, a pink birthmark over one eye, maybe a couple of years younger than Eddie, and a slight frown to a face that had many laugh lines.

_ ¿En qué carajo se había metido? Oh Dios. _

“Buck, this is Eddie Diaz. Eddie, this is Buck.”

Eddie managed to move past his internal crisis enough to shake Buck’s hand, which the Alpha returned. The smile on the blond’s face seemed a little forced and he shifted uncomfortably once they pulled back. Eddie felt a slam of fear.

Had he guessed? Had Buck guessed his designation? Was that what this was about? Did the guy hate working with Omegas?

No, that couldn’t be. But even with his internal assurance, a hand squeezed his insides.

Then why was the Alpha acting as if the last thing that he wanted to be doing was standing in the same room as him?

Everyone else seemed to like him, or were at the very least courteous. Eddie decided to shrug off the Alpha’s weird behavior. By the other’s glances, he guessed this wasn’t normal for Buck, so maybe the man was just having a bad day. Eddie had only just gotten there, they’d exchanged absolutely no words yet. The Alpha couldn’t hate him already, could he?

***

Nope, apparently Evan Buckley-full name given courtesy of Chimney-could hate a man he’d just met. 

Eddie was a mix between confused and frustrated. They hadn’t even been on shift an hour, absolutely no calls yet, and he could feel the other’s eyes burning into his back as he chatted with Hen. She seemed extremely nice, giving him the rundown of the roster and taking any questions he had. 

Finally, he had to ask the most pressing one. “What’s the deal with Buck? Is he always this hostile?”

Hen sighed in annoyance and glanced over at the Alpha, who fortunately was just out of earshot. “He’s not usually like this-”

Anything else she was going to say was cut off by the alarm. Eddie jumped to his feet and joined the crew darting towards the fire trucks. A thrill of excitement ran under his skin despite anything else as he settled in the cab. He’d missed this, the experience of working with a crew and heading out to help people. Three years had passed since he’d been in the Army and he missed the comradery.

Apparently no one was quite done finding out about the new guy. Chimney broached the subject of his medal first, which he was only slightly surprised that everyone seemed to know about. “So, Silver Star, huh?”

Eddie may have missed the comradery of the Army, but he didn’t miss thinking about the helicopter. “Yeah.”

When no other information was forthcoming, Chim pushed more. “You save a platoon or something?”

A flash of fire appeared in his mind’s eye, the memory of huddling with his crew and awaiting death still all too vivid. He shifted slightly. “No, no, nothing like that. Uh, just a convoy.”

Chim didn’t seem any less impressed, but left the topic, much to Eddie’s relief. He could still feel Buck’s eyes boring into him and he couldn’t help the feeling of disappointment. Didn’t the guy see that he wasn’t exactly a threat to the team? He knew his stuff.

“Eddie, have you heard about the hot firefighter calendar?”

Eddie’s attention turned back to Hen in surprise. He could see Buck and Chim’s reactions, both wildly different, but he was still working on the idea of a hot firefighter calendar. “Sorry, the what?” He laughed.

“It’s for charity!” Everyone but Buck was laughing, so Eddie felt a grin spread on his face.

Buck finally spoke up for the first time. “So is your full name Eduardo?”

Eddie felt the smile drop a little at the hostility radiating off of the other man. What was his problem? “No.” He felt like continuing, but decided not to, as he didn’t know where this was going. It couldn’t be a race problem, could it? The guy was best friends with a Black woman and an Asian man. Surely a Mexican couldn’t be what got him? Half Mexican, at that. Besides, he didn’t get a racist vibe. He’d met plenty in his lifetime; Buck didn’t strike him as one. 

“Do people ever call you Diaz?”

What was this about? “Not if they want me to respond.”

“Something’s gotta give. We have Cap, Hen, Chimney, Buck,” He gestured at all of them. “We can’t just call you Eddie.”

There was a slight pause, Eddie feeling like he was miles behind wherever Buck was going with this. “I can’t tell if he’s being serious or not.”

“I always like to operate under the assumption that nothing he says is serious.” Chimney’s response made everyone but Buck laugh and Eddie couldn’t help joining in.

Ok, so what if the guy didn’t like him? At least everyone else was ok.

***

Eddie may have had all of his life turned upside down more than once, but one thing that never was in question was his medical knowledge. He waited with bated breath for Buck to hand him the needle. It wasn’t that long really, but he could tell that the other man was annoyed. In this instance, he couldn’t really blame him. He was showing the Alpha up on their first call, playing the medic card. But he knew how to do this and he knew that Buck was going to have to acknowledge that whether he liked it or not.

After he got the needle, his attention became focused solely on Hector. He couldn’t help the rush of relief when it worked, the air rushing out and Hector finally being able to really breathe. If he’d been wrong...but he hadn’t. The guy was saved.

Buck’s eyes were on him again, but for the first time he didn’t feel hostility. The guy seemed assessing, as if he didn’t know quite what to make of it. Hey, Eddie would take uncertainty over hate.

He was putting the bags back into the compartment when everyone congratulated his call. It was reassuring, knowing that he’d done the right thing and that no one else was concerned about him overstepping. Buck was the last one through and the begrudging “Yeah, good call,” that Eddie got left him more confused and more than a little pissed off.

Right. So they were back to hating again. Great.

***

Seeing Christopher that night made everything worth it. Picking him up from Abuela’s and having her arms hold him close for a few precious seconds made everything worth it. That was one of the best parts about moving to LA, being close to the woman that felt like both a grandmother and more of a mother than his own had been. His mother wasn’t horrible, just...no one in El Paso seemed to understand that male Omegas weren’t the devil incarnate. Not in his family’s circle, at least.

“ _ Has perdido peso. _ ” She said worriedly, patting his stomach and looking him up and down.

“Training, Abuela. It makes everyone shed a few pounds. I’m fine, seriously.”

“ _ ¿Si? _ Then is your face closed tighter than Fort Knox, hmm?” 

Nothing got past his Abuela. “It was...a rough day at work.”

“Already? Eddie, it was only your first day.”

“The job was fine. I loved the work, the crew’s great, we didn’t lose anyone. Just...there’s one guy on the crew. He seems to hate me and I don’t know why.”

“Hmm. And it’s rattled you.”

“I just don’t know why. I’ve never met him before today, we hadn’t even spoken before he was acting all weird.”

“Then ask him about it.”

“That’s a recipe for disaster, Abuela.”

“Is it?  _ Nieto, _ you will not feel safe in that job until you’ve figured out why your teammate doesn’t like you.  _ ¿Sí? _ ”

“ _ Si _ .” Eddie knew it was true. 

“This isn’t about your designation, is it?”

“No.” He might be expertly lying about how he was managing his designation, but there was no reason to hide this part. “I’m not going to tell them. Not until I’m comfortable.” Actually, never, if he could help it.

Abuela sighed just as the clicking of Chris’s crutches became audible. “I suppose that’s for the best.” They both turned to look at Chris and Eddie couldn’t help but smile.

“Daddy!” 

Eddie bent down and scooped his son up, holding him close. “ _ Buenas noches, mijo. _ ” He took a deep breath of his son’s baby scent and felt himself relax. This was why he did what he did. “Did you have a good day? Say bye to your  _ bisabuela _ , sweetheart.”

“ _ ¡Adiós, bisabuela! _ ” Chris called as they started down the path to Eddie’s truck.

“ _ ¡Adiós bisnieto! _ Eddie!” Eddie turned to look at her and she nodded. “Stay safe,  _ nieto _ .”

***

Eddie strode towards the station gym with a sense of purpose. Boxing was a good way for him to clear his head and being around the still weirdly hostile Alpha for the last few hours had muddled it. Besides, he enjoyed working out, had since he was a kid. Even seeing Buck in the gym didn’t derail him. He was sick of this shit. And hurt, if he was being honest. If Buck made any problems, he was ready to confront him. Just cause Chim had said he’d been recently broken up with didn’t change anything about how he treated others.

Other than a resentful glance in his direction, Buck didn’t seem to care that he existed, which in this scenario he didn’t really mind. His head felt slightly fuzzy from all the Alpha pheromones in the room, which he’d learnt to expect in gyms. Since he didn’t have his own scent present, buried underneath years of suppressants and blockers, his nose tried to overcompensate for it with heightened scent detection of everyone else. It wasn’t really a problem, years in the Army had taught him how to ignore it. All he had to do was get used to the scents. Until then, he’d have a minor headache. Nothing that would affect his job or really him, thankfully.

Chim joined them after a few minutes. Eddie liked the Alpha. He teased everyone a lot, but it was mostly harmless. He seemed less wrapped up in himself and kinder than most Alphas, plus he seemed generally well liked. This train of thought was interrupted by him noticing Buck pull out a selfie stick and start posing.

...really?

Eddie knew that he should probably keep out of it, but he couldn’t resist a dig. “You’re in the wrong light, man.”

“Some of us don’t need lighting to look good.” Buck retorted, barely looking back at him. Eddie shrugged and turned back to the punching bag.

Chim interrupted him. “Hey Eddie. What’d you mean by wrong light?”

Shannon had been good at photography and some of the random stuff she’d said stuck. “The lighting in the room is flat and blue. Makes you look soft. If you want to look lean and muscles to pop, you need warm side light.” After a second he added, “I’ll show you.” He grabbed his phone and went into his photos. His sister Adrianna lived a few counties away and one of his nieces, Lily, was on a photography kick. Asking for submission pictures had been embarrassing, but Lily had seemed thrilled to be asked and Adrianna had simply smiled and said which photos she liked best.

“These are the ones I sent in for the calendar.” Lily had insisted on him holding their several week old kitten for a few photos, saying that he looked soft and sexy. He never wanted to hear his niece say sexy again. Chim seemed impressed though and Eddie was glad his skin was tan so that a blush wasn’t visible immediately. Especially since Buck was right behind him, looking over his shoulder.

That blush went away when Buck walked off with a parting shot, “It’s kinda cheating, sending pictures by a professional photographer.”

Eddie was startled into a laugh. “The photographer’s twelve. She’s my niece.” He added to Chim, as Buck had glanced up only briefly. “She’s a master at the iPhone filters.”

“Your niece did this?” At Eddie’s confirmation, Chim glanced back at the photos then back up. “You think she’d be willing to take my submission pics for me? Only I’ve been told that I photograph like an Asian fobby.”

Eddie felt a rush of anger on Chim’s behalf, tampering it down before it became visible. “Sure she would, yeah!”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah, ya know, you recently shouldn’t get his hopes up like that.” Buck interjected, doing bicep curls. “No offense, Chim.”

“No offense taken, Evan.” Chim didn’t seem too phased, but Eddie knew that was easy to fake. Even if he was fine with it, that didn’t mean it was ok.

Right, he was finishing this. He strode over to Buck with purpose. “What’s your problem, man?”

To his credit, Buck didn’t try and deflect or pretend he didn’t know what he meant. There was a slight pause and then the Alpha stood, looking slightly down at Eddie due to the height difference. “Ok, you. You’re my problem.” Eddie held his ground, waiting the Alpha out. “Your comfort level, you’re not supposed to walk in here like you’ve been here for years. It’s meant to be a getting to know you period, you’re meant to respect your elders.”

“You’re not his elder, Buck.” Chim piped in, which was good because from what Eddie heard he had about three to four years on the Alpha and he doubted that him pointing that out would make anything better. Better that Chim did it.

“Look, I in no way meant to be too familiar or step on anybody’s toes. I know you’re going through some personal stuff right now.” Maybe showing he understood would help things.

“What personal stuff?” Buck seemed challenging and Eddie wondered if that was a good idea after all.

“I know your girlfriend recently broke up with you and you’re coming to terms with that.” Eddie wished he could say that he understood, but he couldn’t. He highly doubted that the Alpha in front of him had had someone like Shannon. Thank God.

“I’m not...she didn’t break up with me, who told you that?” Buck turned knowingly towards Chim and the other man quickly diverted his attention.

Ok, yeah, big mistake. “Look, I’m just saying, I hear you’re a good guy and I’m sorry you’re going through pain, but no need to take it out on me or be threatened by me. We’re on the same team!”

“Why would I be threatened by you?”

Eddie had no idea who was even in control of the conversation anymore. He highly suspected that no one was. “Exactly. There’s no need to be. We do the same thing. I’ve just done it while people are shooting at me, is all.” He turned away, almost overwhelmingly disappointed at the outcome of that, even though it seemed less like his actual fault now.

“We’re not broken up!” Buck called after him and really, Eddie wanted to know what was going on with that.

“Alright.” Was the only response that he sent back. He went back to the bag, not really feeling like working out anymore but unwilling to leave the room. It felt like defeat.

“Whoa.” Hen entered the room and almost immediately stepped back, waving at her nose. “Way too many Alpha pheromones in here, you guys. What were you doing, comparing lengths?”

Buck certainly was stinking up the place. Chim seemed to be letting off more than usual too, likely because of being on the sidelines of a fight. That and the regular smells of the gym were overwhelming. Eddie knew, cause his head was actually bothering him now.

Maybe that was it. Maybe Buck would feel less threatened if he knew that Eddie wasn’t an Alpha. A boulder settling in his stomach, wishing he could keep his last cards close, he hesitantly said, “Not from me. I’m not an Alpha.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Buck’s head twist to look at him. Chim pumped his fist. “I knew it! I thought I couldn’t smell anything. What are you? Beta, non-designated?”

Before Eddie could answer, Hen slapped Chim’s arm. “Chim, you don’t just ask that, you know that!”

“What? He offered!”

“Not really! All he said is that he wasn’t an Alpha, which we guessed anyway cause we couldn’t smell him.”

Eddie left the room, shedding his boxing gloves. He knew that most people were fairly open about designations and topics around them, like scents, but when he’d grown up he’d been taught to feel ashamed of those conversations. Besides, if he stayed any longer, he’d waste the chance to get out of a conversation that would end with him spilling the beans about being an Omega. Because within two shifts, he’d already figured out that he was the only one in the entire station. Unless someone else was hiding too, which wasn’t impossible. He wasn’t ready. He’d probably never be ready.

He met the captain’s eyes as he left the room, finding them assessing. He must have witnessed much of what happened. Despite Eddie’s expectation to be called over though, the man simply nodded at Eddie and gave a questioning look with a thumbs up. Not wanting to lie, Eddie shrugged and gave a sorta motion. Bobby seemed about ready to come over, and honestly if there was one person there that he’d tell it was probably the captain. But Johnson appeared at the captain’s side and diverted his attention, leaving Eddie to make his escape to the couches upstairs. 

He was so ready for the shift to end. 

***

They were on a call to a guy with a grenade in his leg and Eddie had to internally laugh at the irony of the situation. Figures that he got out of the Army after plenty of treating guys that had been blown up, but that it was only three years later than he was getting to someone who had an explosive tucked inside of them. Which granted, removal was for the hospital to do. But the irony was still there.

He waited outside with Hen and Chim while Buck and Bobby went in to evaluate the situation. While they waited, Hen nudged Eddie’s side gently. “Hey.”

“Hmm?” Shaken out of his thoughts, Eddie looked over at her.

“Sorry about earlier. About the designations talk and what happened with Buck. Chim filled me in.”

“No need.” He gave a tiny smile. “I’m just private. And the way Buck is acting has just been messing with my head.”

“I know. He’s been an asshole.”

“Well sorta.”

“Well definitely. He’s harmless-mostly, but sometimes his head just goes too far up his ass.” She patted his arm. “He’ll get over it. You guys might even wind up best friends.”

Eddie snorted. “Sure.”

Hen chuckled. “Well maybe not overnight, but…” She trailed off as Bobby called them in. The next few minutes were spent securing the man onto the gurney and rolling him out. Eddie almost groaned when he overhead Bobby telling Buck to ride with them. Hen and Chim would be up front, he’d be in charge of keeping the man-Charlie-alive until they got to the hospital. He couldn’t help being nervous at the thought of having to deal with Buck again, especially after earlier.

He also heard Bobby’s next sentence. “Hey, you gotta learn to play nice. It’s one team, Buck.”

One team. Yeah, they could be professional. No problem. They’d managed on calls so far. Eddie felt vaguely sick but shrugged it off. Buck could deal with his own shit. He just had to focus on Charlie. 

“I guess you’ve seen a lot of shrapnel wounds.”

They were on the road and Eddie was learning that Buck wasn’t letting this go. Images flashed in his mind’s eye. Plenty of them. After all, he served three tours as a medic. “My share.” He responded, trying to focus on the task at hand. 

“You ever seen a guy with a length of rebar in his skull?”

“What are we measuring here, Buck?” Eddie could hear the clipped tone that he said it with and couldn’t really care. He gave instructions for the dressings and tried to reassure Charlie, who seemed frustrated but a little out of it.

The response seemed to daunt Buck a little, but he continued after a moment, “I’m just saying working in the streets of LA isn’t exactly stress free. It may not be the kind of pressure that you have in a warzone, but…”

Eddie was this close to losing his cool when he noticed the leg and the world stopped for a split second.  _ Dios ayudanos. Por favor ayúdanos. _ “Hold on!” He stopped Buck from pressing the dressing back onto the leg. Staring at the glint of gold, he asked, “I thought you said this was a practice round.”

“It is.” Charlie answered, confused. Eddie knew better. That was no practice round.

“Um, wh-what’s going on?” Buck looked unsure, turning to look at Eddie. 

“The cap. Practice rounds have blue caps. Gold caps are live. Pull over!” He yelled, banging on the roof. He had just enough time to register the scents around him spike with fear when the ambulance came to a halt. 

The time for the bomb squad to get there was all a blur, Eddie giving solid answers to confirm that he knew what he was talking about. He already knew what was coming. There was no defusing a grenade. They’d have to get the military. But the bomb squad guy said the military would take an hour. And Buck was right. They didn’t have an hour.

“I can do it.”  _ I’m sorry, Christopher.  _ “If he doesn’t go to surgery soon, he’ll die.”

Everyone turned to look at him. “You’ve done this before?” Bobby asked.

“None of the guys I served with were dumb enough to shoot a live round into themselves, but I’m familiar with the ordinates.” You didn’t make it being a medic if you didn’t know how to do stuff like that.

“I’m in.” Buck, surprisingly to Eddie, volunteered. Despite their problems, it was comforting and scary to know that he wouldn’t be going in alone. He couldn’t let something happen to Buck. He didn’t have to be there and he had family, a girlfriend, for him to go home too. 

Well, so did he. Definitely not a girlfriend, but he had Chris.

He had to get this right.

*** 

Eddie received his vest and the box, telling Buck that he’d see him inside. Hearing Buck’s comment about “getting real close” was hardly reassuring, but not untrue. Once they got inside and Charlie had dropped off, it was time to get to work.

“You ready?” He asked Buck, faintly realizing that this was the first time they were looking at each other without a hostile air. They really could band together when it was needed. 

“Yeah.” Buck looked a little anxious, but surprisingly determined. Eddie was starting to see past the confrontational Alpha now that Buck had lowered the front and it was...refreshing. “He’s losing a lot of blood.” Buck said upon peeling back the dressing.

“Keep pressure on it. Ah, too much pressure.” Eddie said hastily. They didn’t need the wound too exposed. To his credit, Buck didn’t seem annoyed by the correction. Eddie took the claws and maneuvered them into a position around the grenade. “There it is.”

“So pull it out, c’mon.”

“I gotta...be careful...the sensor measures the distance traveled...based on how many rotations the shell made...after the launch. The key is...not to turn the shell while I pull it out.”

“Ok, so don’t turn it.” Buck said urgently. “C’mon, you got this.”

The murmured encouragement still registered despite their situation. “Gonna have to...just...a bit…” And with that, the grenade slipped free from Charlie’s leg. “Get the box.”

Buck had the box beside Eddie in seconds and very, very carefully set it inside. His heart jumped when it rolled, but he felt weak with relief when nothing happened. He looked up to find Buck already looking at him, both letting out a soft sigh of relief. Buck then smiled for the first time at Eddie. Not an aggressive, provoking grin, but an honest to God smile. Everything felt a little brighter in that instance and Eddie told himself that he’d think over why later.

Like, in ten years. That’d be good, right?

***

After handing Charlie off to the paramedics, Eddie wiped the sweat off his forehead. He heard Buck behind him and he decided, why not try? Just once more. He turned.

“You're badass under pressure, brother.”

Buck got a tiny disbelieving smile as he messed with his gloves. “Me?”

“Hell yeah. You can have my back any day.” And Eddie meant it all.

Buck’s grin afterwards set his nerves at ease. “Yeah. Or you know...you could-you could have mine.”

Eddie couldn’t stop his own grin from growing. “Deal.” They shook on it and Eddie was no longer surprised at the firmness in his grip. A person’s handshake told all.

“Nice work, fellows.” Bobby came up to them. “Glad you both made it out of there.”

“Guy’s a professional, Cap.” Buck said...proudly? “I was never really worried.”

Before anyone could respond to that, the explosion that Eddie had been keenly expecting since they stepped into the ambulance rocked the parking lot, the ambulance surprisingly somewhat intact afterwards. Too used to explosions, Eddie had only slightly flinched, while both Buck and Cap hunched over, Buck with his hands up.

They turned to look at him in surprise. Not really having anything else to say, Eddie pointed towards the exit. “You guys hungry?” He was pretty sure he’d seen a McDonald’s across the street. 

Buck gave him an odd look and Bobby seemed amused, but nodded. “Let’s do it. We need dinner anyway.”

As Eddie started to follow him, Buck called, “Hey Eddie, hold up.” Surprised, Eddie stopped and turned. “Look, I’m sorry. I know I was a dick and I treated you like shit. It’s just-I don’t handle change too well. And having someone new...I kinda had to fight to fit in here when I came and it rattled me that you just fit so well.”

“You felt replaced. Shoved to one side.” Eddie nodded, eyes a little distant. Then he came back to himself. “I get it, ok? Change ain’t easy. Nor is having someone new around.” If only Buck knew how much he’d had to fight to fit in in his lifetime. “Yeah, you were a dick. But...well, as you said, we wound up real close in there.”

Buck snorted. “Oh yeah? And we lived to tell the tale.”

“Exactly. We’re good.” Eddie started to walk off, but then stopped and called back, “Just don’t do it again, hmm?”

Buck let out a surprised laugh and a moment later Eddie felt the Alpha’s arm sling around his shoulder. He leaned into the touch in surprise and Buck squeezed his shoulders. “Never again. You know what I think?”

“What?”

“I think we’re gonna be best friends.”

Eddie laughed, mostly cause they’d just reached the group and Hen’s eyebrow was raised. “I suppose overnight is a possibility.” She acquiesced and Eddie laughed again, feeling lighter than he had in years. 

Maybe it’d all be ok.

***

He said as much to his son when he saw him again, driving him back from Abuela’s. “Hey Chris?”

“Yeah Dad?” His son looked at him in the mirror and Eddie smiled softly.

“I think we’re gonna be just fine.”

***

Of course, not everyone would. Like the guy who got his fucking head cemented into a microwave. Seriously, what was up with that?

And others would be too. Like Chim, who got on the calendar. Like Bobby and Officer Grant, who represented one of the few Alpha/Alpha relationships that he’d ever seen. Him and Chris, now happily adjusted to a new routine. And him and Buck, who now sent most of their time around the firehouse near each other.

Nothing was going to take this away from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations: (all from Google Translate)
> 
> Mijo: son  
> Vamos, cariño. No podemos llegar tarde: C'mon sweetheart. We can't be late  
> Te veré esta noche, te amo: I'll see you tonight, I love you  
> Oh Dios, ¿en qué se había metido?: Oh God, what had he gotten himself into?  
> ¿En qué carajo se había metido? Oh Dios. : What the hell had he gotten himself into? Oh God.  
> Has perdido peso: You've lost weight  
> Nieto: grandson  
> Abuela: grandmother  
> Bisabuela: great-grandmother  
> Bisnieto: great-grandson  
> Buenas Noches: Good evening/night  
> Adios: bye   
> Dios ayudanos. Por favor ayúdanos : God help us. Please help us

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudo and a comment to tell me what you think!


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